A New Kind of Alien
by NeedMoreSpace
Summary: 20-year-old Victoria Watkins gives up a promising future on Earth to live on Acheron. The planetoid formerly known as LV-426, is now home to a terraforming colony where scientists can live with their families. Employed by Weyland-Yutani, the families hope to build a better world. That is, until they realize they're not alone. Rated M for violence, death, and gore.
1. A Death in the Colony

**Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Alien Franchise.**

 **Before you read: This story is set around the time of Aliens (1986) on the planetoid formerly known as LV-426, which from here on out will be referred to as Acheron.**

 **P.S. If you've been reading this story since I first published it, it may shock you to see all the chapters are gone and I've updated this one. I've decided to rewrite the story and make some significant changes. I feel like I've grown a lot as a writer over the past few months and I'm ready to come back to this and dedicate more time to it.**

A typical day on Acheron was like a stormy twilight on Earth. It was usually cloudy and the light of the sun was obscured by the dense atmosphere. By night, the sky was like a black cloth folding over the planetoid like a blanket. Not even the twinkling of the stars could peak through the darkness. Although there were light posts set up all around the colony, the settlers had put a curfew in place and nobody was allowed outside after the last hour of day-light. Each day after curfew, I would sit in my quarters and stare out the window at the dark emptiness that loomed above us. It was menacing and scary. I would think about Earth and how it's city lights would pollute the sky with their artificial glow. Sometimes, when I was feeling hopeless, I used to drive away from the city and camp out in my car. I would look up and count the stars until I fell asleep. I would think about life on another planet and how I longed for adventure and excitement. I should've cherished the stars when I had them.

Now, we were 39 light years away from Earth, the only home most of us ever knew. My family and I had arrived here only 2 months ago, after Weyland-Yutani hired them. As colonists, we were supposed to terraform this lifeless rock and make it habitable for humanity. It was expected to take decades, but Weyland paid well and they had an entire colony of the world's best scientists at their disposal. From biologists, to zoologists, genetic engineers and ecologists, Weyland Corp had every possible "–ologist" needed to carry out this mission. My parents were both biologists and were tasked with trying to grow crops, trees, and plants. They mainly worked in labs, but sometimes went outside to take soil samples from different locations.

There were about 60 or 70 families here, many of them had young children. They were the first generation of humans that were born and raised on another planet. When my parents received an invitation from Weyland Corp in the mail, they could hardly believe it. They had dedicated their lives to research and science and their hard work was finally being recognized by one of the most powerful companies in the world. People always said that if you were a Weyland employee, you were sure to retire early with enough money to live out the rest of your life comfortably. I was thrilled for them, obviously, but I wondered what it meant for me. Weyland Corp had always encouraged scientists to bring their families to colonize new worlds, so it wouldn't have been a problem if I wanted to go with them. For days, I had contemplated whether to go or stay. If I stayed, I might never see my parents again. But if I went, I was giving up Earth, the only home I'd ever known, possibly forever.

Only 2 weeks after they were hired, I found myself packing all my belongings in a trunk and we were escorted by military personnel aboard the USCSS Andromeda, the craft that brought us here in cryostasis chambers. As we floated peacefully through space, everyone I cared for back home went on with their lives on the planet they knew and loved and my dreams and expectations for my life were erased. Nothing would ever be the same again.

* * *

"Hey, put on your gear, I need you to come collect some extra samples with me." My dad said, leaning in the doorway of my quarters. "More samples? Don't we have enough already?" I whined. "Your mom says we need some soil samples from the mountain range." I sighed and quickly laced up my boots, standing up to put on the rest of the gear. We had to wear special attire whenever we went outside. The planet's air was technically breathable, but the outside conditions were still too harsh to go outside unprotected. I had to put on a protective suit that was made of some sort of flexible, thinly stretched rubber that had a zipper down the front. Along with it, I grabbed my helmet, which looked very similar to an astronaut helmet—it was large and white and had a clear window for me to see. The helmet came with some loose fabric around the edges that tucked into the neck-hole of my suit.

"Come, we'll take the vehicle this time. I've got everything we need right here." He handed me a large backpack that was filled with equipment and sample holding containers. I grabbed it and strapped it around my waist, slipping my arms through the back. "Where's mom?" I wondered. She usually joined us when we went outside to take samples. "She's in the lab. She's gotta write a bunch of reports. You know how it is with these people. She said she'll join us next time." Dr. Ledger, the "guy in charge" was a stickler for doing things by the book. Every week, we were expected to write reports on our progress and input data into the computers. It was boring and time-consuming, but it had to be done. The company wanted to make sure their money was being used properly and that they were getting the results they needed.

On our way to the mountain range, we chatted about current events and about their work at the lab. Apparently, mom and dad were making a lot of progress and they were both very excited. They had successfully grown some plants, which were transferred to the greenhouse the colony was equipped with. Nobody expected the plants to grow this fast, but the company was pleased and so were the settlers. It made me happy to hear some good news for a change. For the first few weeks after we arrived, there were a lot of complications and failures. My parents had even thought about returning to Earth. I wanted to push them to go back, but seeing their disappointment was crushing. I told them to give it another shot. To stay here longer and if things were still bad, we could always go back. I feel selfish, but I sort of regret doing that now.

The ride was bumpy, to say the least. There were rocks everywhere; small hills and dips along the planet's surface that varied in size. It was difficult to drive on the terrain, but dad had experience and knew his way around. Besides, this was a military-grade vehicle with bullet proof windows and the tires were almost indestructible. I have no idea what kind of material Weyland uses to build their stuff, but all of it is damn-near unsurmountable. The windows were 2 inches thick and they could withstand almost any blow. "We'll be there in about 15 minutes." My dad talked into the radio the vehicle had built-in. My mom had been wonder what was taking so long. She was not the most patient woman.

"How far is the mountain range?" I asked, trying to pass the time. My dad glanced at the GPS sitting on the dash board. "It says it's about 2 more miles from here." He slowed down a bit as we came to a large boulder and swerved around it. "Has anyone else ever been there? I can't imagine the other doctors going on a hike." I looked at the GPS and back at the window, seeing the mountain range approaching in the distance. "I asked around before we left and apparently, nobody else has bothered to go exploring. They're too busy in their labs with paperwork, I mean, we just got here so there's a lot of reports that need to be written about the initial state of things. The company really likes to record progress." He sounded amused. "What does mom say about the 'initial state of things'?" I laughed. He chuckled in response, "Your mom says the place has potential, but we're going to need some sort of direct sunlight." I scoffed as I looked up at the grey sky. "Does the company think you guys can make it happen? You're biologists, not magicians."

"There are so many possibilities, actually, we don't really need direct sunlight. We could experiment with artificial lighting or try to create genetically engineered plants that can grow without direct sunlight. At this point, I think anything is possible. I used to think it'd be impossible to achieve long-distance space travel and here we are." He laughed and nudged me with his elbow. I smirked a little and looked down. I was still getting used to it here.

"Do you we'll ever return to Earth?" I asked. My dad gave me a sidelong glance and frowned.

"Do you miss it that much?" He asked, quietly.

I nodded.

"Me too." He said simply.

I looked at him, surprised. "But, I thought you liked it here?" I questioned. "We like having a purpose and feeling like we're doing good work here. But we also love Earth," He sighed gently and the vehicle came to a slow stop in front of a mountain.

"I honestly think it's worth discussing this with your mom tonight, over dinner." He stopped pressed the brakes and stopped gently a few feet away from the mountain.

"Come, let's get this done," He got out of the truck and walked over to the mountain base and kneeled.

I sighed, got out and kneeled a couple yards away from him, taking out a petri dish from the backpack. I started scooping up sand and rocks, until I saw something strange a couple inches away. I squinted and moved closer as I noticed a bizarre, green goo that had pooled next to a large rock. "Hey! Come, quick. Check this out!" I called to my dad. He trotted over calmly and kneeled next to me. "What's that?" I asked him, pointing at the gooey substance. He laughed, "It kind of looks like melted gelatin or something, right?" He pulled a large, glass container out of the backpack and a tiny metal spatula. "Whatever it is, we'll take a sample of that." He handed the container to me and I started scooping up the goo, as well as the soil surrounding it.

As I tried to scoop it into the container, the metal seemed to melt away and smoke staring coming out of it. I quickly dropped it and fell on my posterior as I tried to crawl away. Luckily, my dad caught me and helped me stand up. "What was that? What happened?" He asked, clearly confused. "I don't know," I shrugged, "I think that green goo melted the metal." He shook his head and whispered, "Impossible," as he carefully stepped in front of me to have a closer look. Over his shoulder, I could see that it was still smoking and melting.

"That shouldn't be happening," his mouth was open and his eyes were wide.

"Only acid can do that, right?" I asked.

He nodded and stared, mesmerized, as the goo completely eroded the metal. "We gotta let Dr. Legder know about this."

My dad hurried back to the truck, where I heard him saying something into the radio. I noticed more of the mysterious substance leading away from the mountain range and decided to follow the trail. I walked just a few steps before I saw it. It was a man—one of us—from the colony. At first, I thought he had passed out, but as I stepped closer, I saw that the glass from his helmet had somehow melted into his face, making him completely unrecognizable. There were pieces of glass embedded into his flesh and his skin looked like it had been doused in acid. I could see parts of his skull surrounded by a pool of melted flesh and blood. His hands were also badly burned and I could see the exposed tendons.

He had on a protective a suit just like mine, with the Weyland logo on the right side of his chest. I stood, paralyzed, over his body. My feet refused to move and my throat couldn't formulate sounds. I wanted to scream, to call out to my dad, but somehow, I couldn't. I gasped and suddenly felt like I was being choked. Breathing became more difficult the longer I stared at the man's disfigured face. I heard my dad calling my name as he came up behind me. "Jesus—What the fuck?" He yelled as he gazed upon the man's mutilated body. "Victoria, come on, we have to get out of here!" I felt him grab me by my shoulders as he guided me away from the horrific scene, cursing under his breath.

In the safety of the truck, he started yelling into the radio. His voice sounded like a distant whisper as thoughts and questions raced through my mind. Who was that man? Was he someone we knew? Why had he gone to the mountain range all alone? What in the world happened to his face? What could have done something like that? I couldn't stop my body from shaking as I stared at the spot where I knew his body lied, just beyond the base of the mountain. There was no way he could still be alive if his face looked like that. The sight of his body lying on the ground wouldn't leave my mind. No matter how hard I tried to push it away, all I could see was his disfigured, bloody face lying in a pool of thick, red blood.

"Victoria! Victoria, say something! Are you okay?" My dad was panicking as he started the truck and sped away from the scene. We were driving back to the colony at full speed. "I-I-I don't know. He-he was just covered in blood. His face—" I stopped, feeling a wave of nausea overcome me. I tried desperately to hold back from vomiting as I twisted off my helmet and threw it to one side. I felt the contents of my stomach rushing up my throat and lost control. I threw up on the floor of the vehicle, gasping and coughing as it all came up. I tried to calm down and position my head between my legs, but it was impossible at the speed we were going. "Dad, please, slow down." I groaned.

A voice over the radio was barking orders, "Stay where you are! Don't move! We need to know exactly what you saw and where!" It was Dr. Ledger, the head of the colony and the colonist with the highest clearance at Weyland Corp. "Like hell we're staying here, we don't know what did that. We don't know what the fuck is out there!" My father replied angrily as he sped up and held the radio to his mouth. "You listen, and you listen well, I don't know what happened to that man, but I'm not sticking around to find out!"

"You're being foolish! I'm sending a team of men out there to retrieve the body and investigate. All you need to do is show them where to go." He said the last sentence calmly, clearly trying to appease both of us. My dad didn't say anything else as we sped back to the complex. I could tell he was trying hard to calm down and compose himself. As we approached the colony, we saw 3 more vehicles headed our way. My dad sighed heavily as he saw them stop in front of us. He turned to me and spoke softly, "I'm gonna drop you off and lead them to the site. I want you to put your helmet on and get inside. Sit tight until I come back. Can you do that for me, honey?" I nodded wordlessly as I locked my helmet back into place and felt the oxygen flowing through the suit. I took a few deep breaths and stepped out of the vehicle, sprinting toward the complex.

As soon as I reached the main entrance, a group of armed guards escorted me to the med-bay. A team of doctors and nurses were gathered around the room, anxiously speaking to one another. Even Dr. Ledger was there, giving orders over the radio to the units he had dispatched. He was very agitated and kept arguing with whoever was on the other side of the transmission. He'd wasted no time in preparing for our arrival since my dad first contacted the colony. He was also giving orders to a couple of military officers. "We're going into lockdown, now! I don't care what you have to do, you make sure everyone is inside the complex and inside their quarters. Nobody gets in or out, except the units that just departed." The two soldiers nodded and marched away, weapons clutched in their hands.

"Please, sit down, Miss Watkins." He tried to sound calm and collected, but his voice was uneasy. As I started to sit down, another doctor interfered, "Wait, a minute, shouldn't we examine her? Make sure she's alright?" It was a woman who spoke. I didn't recognize her, but a badge clipped to her coat said she was a physician. "Examine her in Room 008. I'll join you when Dr. Watkins gets back with the others." He decided.

The woman put her arm protectively around my shoulders and directed me down a corridor and into an examination room. She closed the door behind her and asked me to remove my suit. "Make sure you put your suit in the medical waste basket. We don't know if you've encountered alien matter that might have left traces on you." She handed me a clean hospital gown, "Here, put this on. You can go over there and draw the curtain if you want some privacy." I did as she asked, removing my helmet first and proceeding to peal the protective suit off my body. I felt light-headed and leaned against a wall for support, stepping into the gown and tying it behind my back. "I'm ready," I pushed back the curtain and stepped out. She motioned for me to sit on the patient bed and slipped on a pair of latex gloves. "I'm going to give you a quick physical to make sure you didn't sustain any injuries. Sometimes the adrenaline doesn't let you feel pain when you experience something traumatic." She said quietly. I sat on the bed and she checked all my vitals and gave me a standard physical; poking, pushing, and probing at me, asking me if it hurt here or there.

She grabbed a tablet from a nearby table and started inputting patient data. She scanned my iris with a tiny camera on the device. "Victoria Watkins, 20-years-old, right?" I nodded. "Looks like you were due for a physical soon, anyway. We killed two birds with one stone." She smiled. We talked for a few minutes and I answered a series of questions relating to what I had experienced out there. "I'm gonna go ahead and have a nurse take a few blood samples, just to make sure everything is ok. I'm also going to prescribe something for your nausea and we'll have a follow-up appointment next week. That ok?" She asked, typing away into her skinny tablet. "Yes, thanks doctor." I said.

There was a knock at the door and a nurse walked in with Dr. Ledger and my dad trailing her. "Is everything okay, Dr. Rose?" My dad asked as they stepped inside the large room. "Yes, Dr. Watkins, your daughter appears to be fine. Nurse Reagan will take some blood samples from her while I examine you." She said, changing into a new pair of gloves. "That won't be necessary, I'm fine—" My dad started to protest, but Dr. Ledger cut him off and insisted that he must be examined. "This has turned into a full-fledged investigation, Robert. I have not alerted the company yet, but I will. When I do, I need to prove to them that we're handling the situation in the most professional manner." With that, Dr. Ledger exited the room, leaving us in an awkward silence.

"Well, that's that, I guess. Go to room 007 and wait for me there. Please, remove your suit and put this on." Dr. Rose presented my dad with a hospital gown just like mine. For a moment, he looked like he wanted to protest, but he took the gown and went into the room next door, instead. The nurse silently finished taking my blood and bandaged my arm. "Alright, Victoria, you're free to go back to your quarters. Your results should be available by the end of the day." Dr. Rose typed a few more details into the tablet and walked into the adjoining room where my dad was waiting to be examined.

Just when I thought I could have a moment alone with my thoughts, there was another knock at the door. It was Dr. Ledger again, but this time he had a soldier with him. I crossed my legs uncomfortably and folded my hands in my lap. For a moment, we were both silently staring at each other until I cleared my throat and he spoke, "Miss Watkins, I understand that you have experienced something traumatic. Perhaps, you're not quite sure what you really saw out there," He paused, waiting for me to say something.

"I saw a dead man." I replied, voice quivering.

"I want to assure you that we're doing our best to come up with answers. I've informed the company, already. They've asked me to persuade you to keep this information to yourself." He stared at me, searching my face for signs of cooperation. I thought for a moment before replying,

"Of course. I understand perfectly."

My answer seemed to satisfy him and he grinned, "Excellent! This gentleman," he gestured at the soldier standing behind him, "will escort you back to your quarters. We'll be in touch soon." He turned around and marched back out of the room, leaving me alone with the young soldier.

"I'm Private Daniels, ma'am," He introduced himself, somewhat shyly.

"Victoria." I said, doing a mock salute.

He smirked, "We better get going, Victoria. We're on lockdown."

* * *

 **I worked really hard on this new version of the story over a couple of weeks and I'm working on another chapter that's coming soon. Please leave a review with your thoughts on this new version. If this is your first time read it, let me know if you have any suggestions. Thanks.**


	2. A Coroner's Response

**_Knock, knock, knock._**

"Come in." I said.

A tall, blonde woman in her early thirties appeared at the door. She was wearing a lab coat and a serious expression. "Miss Watkins, I'm Dr. Parker. May I please have a moment of your time?" She spoke in a lovely English accent, but her melodic voice was filled with unease. I invited her inside hastily, looking down the corridor to see if anyone had noticed her. It wouldn't be good to get caught outside during a lockdown, especially with everything else going on. "Please sit down. Would you like some coffee or tea?" I had walked halfway to the kitchenette when she replied, "Actually, the reason I'm here is because I was able to identify body you found. His name was Henry Fuller, he was a colleague of mine from the ecology department."

"I'm very sorry for your loss." I said earnestly, taking a seat across from her.

"I appreciate your sentiment," She said professionally. "I came because I found something strange when I performed the autopsy." She was holding a tablet in her hands and she started typing in commands to pull up Dr. Fuller's patient file.

"What was it?" I asked, leaning forward to have a look.

"The results of the autopsy suggest that Dr. Fuller was attacked. There were defensive wounds found on the body." She showed me her autopsy notes which described in detail Dr. Fuller's injuries.

"I don't understand. Who would attack him?" I asked, confused.

"I don't think one of us did it." She said, firmly.

If he wasn't attacked by one of the colonists, then who could've done it? Surely, no animal or wildlife could've been responsible. The company had assured us that this planet possessed no indigenous life and I highly doubted anything could survive out here. "How do you know he wasn't attacked by another member of the colony and left to die?" I suggested. She made a few clicks on the tablet again and showed me a graph. "Dr. Fuller sustained multiple burns to his face and body, which were the ultimate cause of death. When I examined and took samples from his injuries, they contained traces of a highly potent and corrosive acid." I stared at the graph, which showed the names of different elements and a percentage next to them.

"Okay, but how does any of this prove your theory?" I asked, still not convinced. "Initially, I thought that someone had attacked him with hydrochloric acid and left him to die, but when I took a closer look at the components, I realized that the substance is mostly unidentifiable. Only a tiny percentage of it was made up of chemicals that we know of." She turned the tablet towards me and I scrolled through the results. It seemed that there were other components that the computer could not identify. "So, then, what exactly are you saying doctor?" I asked.

"There is no record of any acid of this potency being brought to the colony. I searched in the digital inventory for any chemicals that could have been combined to make the substance, but I came up with no answers. There is also one more thing…" She hesitated, debating with herself if she should tell me. "The results of the tests also showed that the unknown substance was organic matter." My eyes widened in disbelief, "That has to be an error!" She shook her head, "No, I ran the test five times and used different samples each time. It's unlikely that the results are erroneous."

"Wait a minute, why are you even telling me this? I don't even have half the clearance needed to know any of this stuff. Why not go straight to Ledger or the company?" I stood up and started pacing anxiously around the room, turning my back to her. "I have reasons for not trusting Ledger. He is lying to people who trust him. I don't fully trust the company either." She whispered. "Besides, you're involved in this first-hand, you're a witness. You don't need clearance to be given answers," she added.

"Are you sure you didn't see anything else out there? Anything suspicious or something you couldn't explain?" She asked.

"You mean apart from a guy who got his face melted off by mysterious acid? No, I didn't notice anything suspicious at all," I said sarcastically.

"Alright, look, we can't let anybody else know about this. I'm going to tell Ledger the results were inconclusive and I'll wait until the company representatives get here. In the meantime, I need you to keep quiet about this." She walked up behind me and put her hand on my shoulder.

I turned to face her, "If you can't trust your superiors or the company who hired you, then why are you here at all?" I demanded.

She crossed her arms over her chest defensively, "I came to work here because I wanted to be part of something great. I wanted to help build a better future for humanity."

I looked away, unable to meet her eyes. "I'll shut up about this, if you promise me that we'll keep looking for answers. I can't turn a blind eye if there's something or someone out there that poses a risk to the colonists."

Dr. Parker nodded and shook my hand. "Deal. I'll be in my office if you need anything. Here's my calling card."

* * *

"Residents of Hadley's Hope, this is Norman Ledger, your administrator, speaking. I'm afraid I have terrible news to share with you this evening," Dr. Ledger's voice was coming through the P.A. system. **_About damn time_**. "The lockdown we have experienced over the past several hours was not a drill," he cleared his throat before continuing, "It is my unfortunate duty to inform you that a member of our prospering colony is deceased. His name was Dr. Henry Fuller and he was a prominent researcher in the ecology department. Due to the unforeseen and unexplained circumstances in which he died, we cannot be certain of what caused his death. Rest assured that an investigation is underway and Weyland-Yutani Corporation has promised to send a special team to get to the bottom of this. Your safety is our number one priority now, which is why nobody can leave the colony until we can be sure it's safe. Until then, you may feel free to carry on with your work indoors. If you worked closely with Dr. Fuller or have any information regarding his death, please see Abigail Parker. Thank you."

* * *

 ** _Hours Later_**

I woke up later that night feeling unusually queasy. I rushed to the bathroom and barely made it to the toilet before I was barfing everywhere. It felt like my stomach itself wanted to come out of my body. I leaned against the wall for a minute, catching my breath, before I moved to the sink to rinse out my mouth. As I cleaned my face, I looked in the mirror and realized how pale I looked. Gosh, am I getting sick? I stumbled back into my bed and tried doing some breathing exercises. For some reason, this always helped me when I had an unsettled stomach.

 ** _Ring-aring-aring, ring-ring!_**

The noise from my view-screen startled me half to death in the quietness of the room. "Fuck!" I said aloud. I moved to my nightstand and activated the monitor. _Who the hell is calling me at this time?_ I turned on the camera, not bothering to hide my disheveled appearance. On the other side, Dr. Parker looked even worse. She had dark circles under her eyes and looked equally pale. She definitely hadn't been sleeping.

"What do you want?" I asked, annoyed.

"Victoria! God, you look terrible." She exclaimed.

I rolled my eyes, "You don't look so hot yourself, doc. Why are you calling me at this time?"

She bit her lip, "Listen, I spoke to one of the doctors after Ledger made his announcement and he had something very interesting to say. You need to come right now to my office. I'm in room 4061. Hurry!" She logged off before I could get a word in, leaving me to wonder what the big deal was. For a minute, I contemplated just staying in bed, but decided it was better to go. Otherwise, she'd keep calling me all night. I pulled myself out of bed and stumbled toward my dresser, stepping into a pair of too-tight jeans. **_Have I seriously gained weight? I've barely been eating._** I shrugged into a lose sweatshirt as well and got going. Her office wasn't too far from my quarters. Only a couple of hallways and a flight of stairs to pass through and her office was a floor above mine. I got there quickly and started knocking on the door, which flew open before my knuckles even touched the smooth metallic surface. "Come in, come in! Hurry!" She ushered me inside. "This better be worth me missing sleep. What the hell is going on?" She gestured to the opposite side of the office, where a nervous-looking man was sitting and shaking his leg.

"That man sitting over there is Dr. Patel. He worked closely with Dr. Fuller in the ecology department. After Ledger's announcement earlier, he spoke with me and had quite the confession." Dr. Parker pulled me toward him and said, "Ok, Amav, tell her exactly what you told me and do not leave out any details. Victoria, here, is the one who found Dr. Fuller and she deserves to know the truth."

The man looked at me with tears in his eyes. I was starting to worry as I sat down across from him and he spoke, "Hi, before I begin I just want to say that I'm so sorry. I think if I had just done things differently…" His voice trailed off as he began to sob. He spoke with a thick Indian accent that might've sounded beautiful if it hadn't been littered with guilt.

"It's okay," I said, gently. I leaned forward and offered him a box of tissues from Parker's desk.

"Henry and I were going to the mountain range to check the PH levels of the soil and we brought some equipment with us. We were kneeling in the dirt, and saw a cave in the distance. Henry got curious and decided to go look into it, since it wasn't on any maps we were given. I stayed near the mountain range with the equipment and collected some of the soil and rocks. I had been communicating with him through the earpiece in our helmets and I told him I was almost finished. He told me the cave went deep underground and that it was full of passageways. He'd gotten lost. He said to take the equipment and samples back to the lab, so I put everything back in the truck as fast as I could. When I was inside, I turned on the radio and tuned in to our frequency. I reached someone and explained to them what was going on, but I received no reply. I started driving toward the colony minutes later and saw another vehicle approaching the site. I assumed they were coming to help him and I went back to the lab that day." He was shaking his head and sobbing again.

"You must've seen my dad and I on our way over there. We don't remember seeing any other vehicles, though. In fact, we were under the impression that we were the first ones to go out there." I crossed my arms over my chest and looked at him seriously.

Dr. Parker finally spoke, "This information does not leave this room. I have many theories as to what could've happened to him, but all of them can hold the company accountable. Whether it was murder or an accident, Weyland Yutani will be at fault." She paced back and forth around the office for a moment. "If the vehicle he saw was not the one you and your father were in, then it must've been another person from the colony, correct?" She paused to look at us.

We nodded in unison.

"Then that means at least one other person was at the site before his body was discovered. Perhaps he was injured in the cave after an unknown acid dissolved his helmet and he tried to save himself, sustaining further injuries in the process. Or maybe, someone went inside to look for him and hurt him for an unknown reason with an unknown substance that cannot be traced back to a source…" She shook her head gently. "None of it makes sense. We still can't be sure of what happened to him." She plopped down next to me looking tired and defeated.

"Well, I propose we go back out there and find that cave." I said, somewhat jokingly.

"We'll have to sneak out and break the lockdown rules, but I don't see what else we can do." They both looked at me like I had gone insane, but Dr. Parker's face softened and she thought for a moment, "Perhaps you're onto something."

"I am not going back out there. No way!" said Dr. Patel. He ran his fingers through his hair in exasperation and shook his head.

"Whoever or whatever killed Fuller has the potential to kill us all and I suspect the company knows something. I will go myself if I have to," Dr. Parker glanced in my direction and raised an eyebrow.

"I'll go with you. It's not like I have better things to do, anyway."

I shrugged and leaned back in my chair. I knew I was being completely reckless and irresponsible, but my gut told me that the cave held the answers we needed. I had played it safe my entire life and if making a dangerous choice could help uncover what truth, I was going to make it.


End file.
